Michigan

Amber Wilson is escorted out of the courtroom after her preliminary exam was waved on Wednesday, July 17 at Wyoming District Court before Judge Pablo Cortes. Wilson allegedly attacked her parents with an axe on March 6, 2013.
(Emily Zoladz | Mlive.com)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The question of whether Amber Wilson was insane when she allegedly tried to kill her parents with an axe six months ago is still up in the air.

And the fact that the 29-year-old Wyoming woman will not cooperate with mental health workers trying to evaluate her is only making it harder to determine, according to court records.

Police allege Wilson burst into the Freedom Street SW bedroom of her mother and stepfather yelling “You’re going to die” and swinging an axe at them.

Wilson's 63-year-old mother Pamela Wilson and 74-year-old stepfather Harold Clark both were injured, but the injuries were not life-threatening.

Clark testified in a July court hearing that he fought off Wilson, who also was wielding what appeared to be a dagger. She fled the house and was arrested later that morning in the area of Clyde Park Avenue SW and 36th Street.

Since the attack, Wilson has had half a dozen hearings adjourned so she could receive evaluations for fitness to stand trial and criminal responsibility at the time of the alleged attack.

Wilson is not on medication and has been denying that she is mentally ill, according to David Boersma, a licensed psychologist with the Michigan Department of Community Health, which performs evaluations to determine if a suspect is fit to stand trial and if the person was criminally responsible for an alleged crime.

“I’m not crazy, I’m just waiting to return to court and get on with things,” Wilson allegedly told staff at the Kent County Jail.

Wilson has been uncooperative with Boersma and corrections staff when it comes to getting her evaluation done on several occasions over the summer. She would only speak to the psychologist while lying in her jail cell bed covered with a blanket,
according to the report.

When asked why she would not cooperate, Wilson allegedly smiled as she responded.

“Because I’m in prison and I don’t have to cooperate,” Wilson said, according to jail staff.

“There appeared to be no reason to believe as of the last interview attempt (Sept. 17) that Ms. Wilson would change her mind about proceeding with the court-ordered interview,” Boersma wrote in a letter to Wyoming District Court Judge Pablo Cortes and entered into the court file last week. “There also appeared to be no reason to believe from the available information that Ms. Wilson’s refusal of the evaluation was rooted in or based on mental illness.”

But Boersma said without Wilson’s cooperation, he could not perform an evaluation.